The Legend of Zelda timeline is fairly disconnected between games, so you don’t necessarily have to play previous installments in the series to enjoy the latest. However, that doesn’t necessarily apply to Tears of the Kingdom, as the developers always planned to make it a sequel to Breath of the Wild.
So if you haven’t played Breath of the Wild yet and want a quick dive into what our Tears of the Kingdom review calls “a remarkable sequel that raises the bar”, it’s better to delay playing. may be better. Of course, you can play and enjoy Tears of the Kingdom without Breath of the Wild, but he’s missing out on one of the best Legend of Zelda games of all time.
But if you want to skip to the latest Zelda game, see the official story rundown above. Otherwise, let’s take a look at some reasons why you should definitely play BotW first.
Breath of the Wild map sets the stage for Tears of the Kingdom
Aside from the obvious story connections between the games, the fact that both games are the same version of Hyrule is a big reason to play BotW first. Breath of the Wild’s map is huge, and many locations are also included in Tears of the Kingdom.
Given that Tears of the Kingdom is set a few years later, what you might have missed in the previous game is seeing the evolution that happened in Hyrule. Things have changed and you can’t enjoy the details if you don’t understand what things were like before.
Characters have evolved over time
Another aspect that comes with direct sequels is the large number of crossover characters between titles. While Link and Zelda change from game to game over the years, so do most of the characters around them. Without the context of who central characters like Sidon and Riju were in Breath of the Wild, the story would probably make sense, but it still misses a lot of great story details. I guess.
The same is true for some of the memorable characters featured in many of Breath of the Wild’s best side quests.
Breath of the Wild is one of the greatest games of all time
Perhaps the most important reason not to skip The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the simplest of them all. This is definitely one of the best video games he’s ever made. Not only was this the first true open-world Zelda game, it brought new elements to the genre and revolutionized the way we interact with open-world games in general. There’s so much to explore and discover that you’ll never get bored doing just that.
Tears of the Kingdom builds on the foundation laid by Breath of the Wild, both literally and figuratively. It would be a shame to miss out on playing such a great game just because the sequel is out.
If you’re playing Breath of the Wild for the first time, or playing again before Tears of the Kingdom, check out our guide on how to quickly exit the game using the Wiki Guide.
And be sure to check out our Tears of the Kingdom guide for all the gameplay tips, tricks, and secrets as the new Zelda games are released.
